Hold Congress Accountable

Knowledge is power. It makes sure people understand what is happening to their country, and how they can make a difference. FreedomWorks University will give you the tools to understand economics, the workings of government, the history of the American legal system, and the most important debates facing our nation today. Enroll in FreedomWorks University today!

Search FreedomWorks

Resources

Blog

Conference Call with Rep. Jeff Landry - Listen to the Call Here!

Last Monday, the 6th of February, FreedomWorks' Vice President Max Pappas held a conference call with Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana and hundreds of our members. Congressman Landry gave an update on how things are going in Congress, and also discussed his bill the SSPICE Act, which addresses the payroll tax cut. We received a lot of positive feedback from those who called in to listen, and we’d like to share the full audio of the call for those who weren’t able to attend:

In particular, FreedomWorks is excited about Rep. Landry’s SSPICE Act, which turns the payroll tax cut into an opt-in program. Under this bill, each year, taxpayers may choose to keep their two percent payroll tax holiday, and their eligibility for Social Security benefits is pushed back by one month in order to offset the amount that they would have paid into Social Security. Those who choose not to receive the payroll tax holiday will receive their retirement benefits at the normal scheduled date. This program allows people to keep more of their own money each year while not affecting the rest of Social Security’s recipients, a winning situation for everybody on the contentious issue of the payroll tax.

TAKE ACTION: Click on these links to tell your Congressman and Senators to cosponsor the SSPICE Act

The current authorization for Title VII, including the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), will expire on December 31, 2017 (1). Discussion of reauthorization with reform has already begun in the House. In the Senate, however, Republican members of the Select Committee on Intelligence have backed legislation (2) that would permanently reauthorize FISA without any reform.

As passed by the House last month, the National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 2810, contains language that prohibits a new round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). An amendment offered by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) to strike this section of the bill failed by a vote of 175 to 248.

FreedomWorks Foundation's Regulatory Action Center submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week supporting the agency's stay and review of unnecessary and burdensome methane emission regulations on the domestic oil and gas industry. FreedomWorks Foundation further calls upon EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to investigate the process by which such laughably bad regulations were finalized and fire those responsible.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to sign the discharge petition for H.Res. 458, led by Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.). The resolution would bring H.R. 1436, a 2015-style ObamaCare repeal bill introduced in March by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), to the House floor for a vote.

The United States Government seized more from private citizens than burglars in 2014. Current federal laws regarding civil asset forfeiture are overstepping private property rights under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. Under the Fifth Amendment it is the obligation of government to provide evidence against private individuals whereas current civil asset forfeiture laws require private citizens to prove innocence. Civil Asset Forfeiture, where government confiscation is acceptable if it’s in the name of protecting the United States against drug lords by taking away private property.

Before adjourning for the August recess, the Senate quietly passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act, S. 860, by a voice vote. The bill reauthorizes the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, the authorization for which expired in 2007, and provides long overdue reform to the juvenile justice system.